Colorado 6, Montreal 5

Milan Hejduk and Matt Duchene scored shootout goals as the Colorado Avalanche earned a wild 6-5 win over the host Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.

Following an entertaining 65 minutes of play, Hejduk beat Canadiens netminder Carey Price to the blocker side to put Colorado ahead in the shootout. After Max Pacioretty missed the net for Montreal, Duchene ended things by sliding the puck between Price's legs.

Trailing 4-3 following a wild second period, Montreal drew even at 12:49 on Brian Gionta's low backhander that beat Colorado netminder Semyon Varlamov under his stick. David Desharnais put the Canadiens in front just 20 seconds later, knifing an Andrei Kostitsyn feed past Varlamov from the left side of the net.

Kyle Quincey forced extra time with a well-placed slapshot on a Colorado power-play with 4:14 remaining in regulation.

David Jones had a pair of second-period goals in the win while Chuck Kobasew and Paul Stastny also scored.

Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec and Travis Moen countered in defeat for Montreal. Gionta finished with three points.

• Montreal will play their next game at home against Buffalo . The Canadiens have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .500 after a loss.
• Colorado will play their next game on the road against Toronto . The Avalanche have a W/L % of .750 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.